While death may be the #1 fear people struggle with in the World, hitting our Golden Years (whenever you see that happening in your life) with debts paid and a level of financial security that allows you to live a healthy, comfortable life is right up there as a second FEAR.
We are seeing the first generation where indexed pensions are no longer the norm…social security is under fire and benefit plans (if you even have one) are covering less and less EXACTLY when you will need them the most.
As we age we become acutely aware of how much more challenging finding jobs, work or running a business can be and, at the same time, we start to crunch the numbers and find out we have 25-50% of what we need to retire comfortably and time is not on our side!
The average person has no idea that even $1Million in savings will make it challenging to live a comfortable retirement life starting at 55 or 60 – add any health challenges, family challenges or a financial crisis into the mix and the issues become even more significant.
I grew up in an age where most of my parents and their siblings were looked after with indexed pension funds – and EVEN THEN, were only getting by.
Unfortunately, most seniors today have massive credit card debt, are carrying mortgages, have little or no pension, do not have health benefits and often have to chose between food, clothes, shelter or health….is that what you see for your senior years?
THE FACTS
In this USA Today Article – they found
for the first time, middle-income households headed by someone over 50 years old carried more credit card debt on average than households of people younger than 50, according to the Demos National Survey on Credit Card Debt conducted with AARP’s Public Policy Institute. Half of those over 50 had medical debt on their credit cards, and a third said they used credit cards to finance daily expenses.
The problem is growing so quickly, groups like this one are forming all over the United States and Canada –
Unfortunately, by the time you have reached your Golden Years your options are few and far between which is why the typical advice given is to try and cut back your spending, use lower-interest forms of debt to payoff higher interest debt, and so on…NOT exactly a situation you want to find yourself in.
HOW TO AVOID DYING BROKE
The reality is that we can no longer depend solely on our jobs or the government to help finance us as we advance in age.
We need to take responsibility for our own short-term, medium-term AND long-term financial situation and stop thinking that some magical force will take care of us in the future.
Even those of you reading this now who “seem” to have a plan in place – if that plan in ANY WAY places control of your financial future in the hands of an employer or government you are in extreme danger.
The number of company bankruptcies where pension programs disappear or are dramatically scaled back continues to rise and the government continues to be forced to 1) Scale back funding for seniors and 2) Begin to place more responsibility on the younger generation which means higher taxes, and less in your pocket as you try and save for your own retirement.
Fortunately it’s not all bleak…when you stand up and take responsibility you will recognize there are opportunities for you to increase your income, build equity and put yourself in a much better financial situation – no matter what age you are reading this today.
How?
- Committing to becoming an authority for a given market…some call them “experts”, while that is a subjective term, the fact is you can use your extensive knowledge, experience and passion about a given audience, market, or desire for information to brand yourself over and above those who simply work for someone else.
- Bundle that knowledge into branding tools and products that both increase your exposure, branding power and bank account – I’m talking about reports, books, ebooks, video programs, presentations, virtual workshops or webinars or even coaching programs, consulting businesses and the like. With products you become THE authority and have additional sources of income even if you continue to work regular jobs
- Become active on the latest platforms to reach your audience – platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter all have regular postings and pages but also have extensive video publishing platforms including Live Streaming or Stories through which you can reach your audience and allow them into your journey as you share your knowledge and expertise – a great way to build exposure, brand and audience for your products.
Launching your own Digital Product & Content Business is actually much easier than you may first think – the process of finding markets and generating interesting/in-demand content is something very natural for us (we love to help and give advice to people – most of which we do daily for NOTHING) – and that means learning the ropes of how to put all of this together in order to offer products online is what is required.
This 5-Day FREE Video training teaches you the ropes – everything from how to find the right market, choose topics with demand, produce professional digital products FAST, operationalize your online business and launch your digital products with a BANG are all covered…
Don’t wait, the challenge with more and more seniors retiring and dying with debt is only going to increase as is the impact going to be felt on each of us (no matter what your age) – this is the time to take your financial future into your own hands…DO NOT continue to follow the false assumptions that you will have enough from your job or real estate to retire — those that have are not faring well today.
Go ahead, take the initiative and have your own products selling online within 30-days…isn’t that a worthy investment of your time and energy to give you peace of mind and financial security into your Golden Years?
